Willeke van Ammelrooy


Willy Geertje van Ammelrooij, known as Willeke van Ammelrooy, is a Dutch actress and director.

Life and career

Willeke van Ammelrooy was born in Amsterdam, Netherlands. She attended drama school in Amsterdam.
Van Ammelrooy has acted on stage as well as in films. She participated in 27 movies. Her first film was Mira in 1971.

Success with ''[Antonia's Line]''

She later starred in the award-winning feminist film Antonia's Line, which tells the story of an independent woman who, after returning to the anonymous Dutch village of her birth, establishes and nurtures a close-knit matriarchal community.
She received positive reviews and the Golden Calf for Best Actress for her performance and the film enjoyed critical success, including the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film at the 68th Academy Awards. Emanuel Levy, writing for The Advocate, wrote "It's easy to see why" the film was winning awards in festivals, calling it "an enchanting fairy tale that maintains a consistently warm, lighthearted feel," and Willeke van Ammelrooy wonderful. Janet Maslin of The New York Times called it "a work of magical feminism." The film also screened at the Toronto International Film Festival, where it won the People's Choice Award.
According to Box Office Mojo, the film completed its run grossing $4,228,275 in North America, 1,660,901 admissions in the European Union, and $21,046 in South Korea.

Other work

In 2017, she was announced as a member of the ShortCutz Amsterdam film jury. An annual film festival promoting short films in Amsterdam.

Personal life

Van Ammelrooy is married to the Dutch opera singer Marco Bakker.

Filmography

Television